Faces of NY Gun Violence: D’aja Robinson, 14

D’aja Robinson, 14, was killed by a gunshot to the head on a city bus.

D’aja Robinson, 14, had just been at a sweet 16 party in Jamaica, Queens, when she boarded a Q6 city bus with some friends. She was killed by a gunshot to the head when a 21-year-old gang member allegedly fired at least nine .40-caliber bullets into the side of the bus.

Police say D’aja was not the intended victim–she was an innocent victim of a shooting that stemmed from an incident between two rival gangs.

D’aja, who had an interest in fashion, was about to finish up her freshman year at Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights.

Gun violence is now thesecond leading cause of death among American children and teens aged 1 -19. Illegal guns still plague many New York communities and it’s easy for young people to obtain those guns on the street. While New York has strict gun laws, more than 2/3 of traced crime guns originated from states outside of New York–mostly from states with weak gun laws.